MLB: Dodgers remember Snider at spring training

Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda among those who remember Duke Snider at spring training

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tommy Lasorda remembered Duke Snider as a
winner, a clutch player who also was easygoing and generous with
young players.

"When I was a rookie on the team, he always seemed to make me
feel good," Lasorda said Sunday after hearing of Snider's death
during a spring-training game at the Dodger's camp at Camelback
Ranch. "He made me feel wanted. He made me feel like I was a part
of the team.

"You know, when we'd ride on the bus, he'd call me back to where
he sat and he'd have a beer with me," Lasorda said. "When you're
that young and a guy like Duke Snider calls you back, you're in
good shape. You feel pretty good about that."

Lasorda had not been able to speak to Snider much since the Hall
of Famer was hospitalized. Before Snider's health declined, Lasorda
said he spoke to him often.

"Hitting balls out of Ebbets Field and trotting around those
bases," said Lasorda, who later became the Dodgers' manager. "That
was Duke Snider. He could throw. He could field. He was one of the
great, great players of our time. Check his World Series
accomplishments.

"He was a winner," Lasorda added. "It is a tremendous loss for
the Dodgers, for his family. I'm proud to say I was a teammate and
friend of his."

In the Dodgers' clubhouse after a 5-0 victory over the Los
Angeles Angels, a sticker remembering Snider had been placed on a
bulletin board next to the daily work schedule. It included
Snider's jersey No. 4, with a red slash through it that said
"Duke."

None of the current Dodgers could recall Snider as a player, of
course, but 28-year-old Andre Ethier had met Snider and knew how
important he was to franchise history.

"He was very complimentary of what you were doing," Ethier said.
"He also had a bunch of information and stuff to give. He was eager
and wanted to be with the guys.

"I had seen him before in camp and at Dodger Stadium," Ethier
said. "It's tough to see a legend, somebody who has done so much
for this team, pass away. He was one of the founding fathers for
what this franchise is all about."

The Dodgers' longtime traveling secretary, Billy DeLury,
remembered meeting Snider when he was teenager working as an office
boy for the franchise.

"It was 1952 or 1953," said DeLury, who is still working as a
travel advisor for the Dodgers. "I remember a gentleman. He was
just an outstanding individual. In Brooklyn, the fans just loved
him. He played every day and the fans knew he would be there."

DeLury remembered him best for two home runs in the 1955 World
Series, but also for being friendly to an office boy who might
otherwise have been intimidated by a big-name ballplayer.

"He would never push himself on you," DeLury said. "He always
had time for everybody, on the road and at home."

First-year Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he first met
Snider three or four years ago.

"It was during winter development," Mattingly said. "I just
remember a very nice man. Obviously, he is a huge part of the
Dodger history."

Then, Mattingly remembered an old line from a Snider era -- a
lyric from Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" -- that included
Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle